Modern mobile communications base stations mounted to antenna towers or the like typically have a distributed architecture. More specifically, the distributed architecture has a Base Band Unit (BBU) on or near ground level and one or more Remote Radio Units (RRU) mounted on the tower itself (often at the top of the tower). This architecture positions the RRUs closer to the antennas (which are also mounted on the tower), thereby reducing feeder losses and in some instances eliminating the needs for Tower Mounted Amplifiers.
One limitation of this architecture, however, lies in the difficulty of radio maintenance difficulties. Field technicians are often incapable of climbing antenna towers (which may require a certain degree of strength, agility, courage, etc.). Also, this architecture can render testing for return loss and PIM performance difficult. As such, it may be desirable to consider modifications to the typical radio/BBU/RRU/antenna arrangement.